Since demand for rail service arises as a result of demand elsewhere in the economy for the products that railroads haul, rail traffic is a useful gauge of broader economic activity, both for specific industries and for the economy as a whole.
A sample of current weekly, monthly and annual information on freight rail traffic is in the interactive charts below. More detailed data is in a variety of AAR statistical products, which are free for AAR full members and available for purchase by non-AAR members through the online catalog.
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